Virginia Lee Payne

Lee was born on October 30, 1959, in Pensacola, Florida to Clifford Homer and Agnes Lambert Albritton. After living in Natchez, Mississippi and West Palm Beach, Florida, the family moved to Cartersville, Georgia where Lee graduated from Cartersville High School in 1977 as an honor graduate, editor of the Cahisco school annual, and first place winner of the state home economics competition for sewing. She was a member of and active participant in the youth group at Cartersville First Baptist Church. Following high school, she attended the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, graduating with honors in 1982. During her time in pharmacy school, she was named to Rho Chi, an international honor society for pharmaceutical sciences. Upon graduation, Lee was employed by Kroger and Super X Pharmacies in Dalton and Cartersville, Georgia and Charlottesville, Virginia. In Cartersville, she was the pharmacy manager for many years in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 1997, she was named the Kroger Pharmacist of the Year for the Atlanta region.

On May 7, 1983, Lee was united in marriage with William R. Payne, MD. After living in Charlottesville, Virginia for three years while her husband completed his training in pediatrics, the couple moved to Cartersville, where they have resided until the present.

When one thinks of Lee, they think of a person dedicated to serving her family, church, and community. Even though she greatly loved caring for her customers at Kroger, she left the practice of pharmacy to care for her newborn son, Will, when he was born in 1997. She devoted her life to educating him through homeschooling, and her efforts have been greatly rewarded by the accolades he has received, such as a Gold Medal in the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, which was awarded two days prior to her death. She loved serving in many different roles over the years in her church, Cartersville First Baptist Church. She especially enjoyed working in the preschool and children’s ministries until illness prevented her involvement. Lee served for several years on the medical team at SPLASH Bartow, using the skills she had learned as a pharmacist. Last year, she organized the medical team at TeenPact Leadership Schools’ National Convention at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. She was most recently involved with a project supporting Orphan Aid Liberia, sewing and sending hundreds of pairs of shorts overseas to children in need, many of whom were orphaned by the Ebola crisis. Her life purpose might be summed up in this—to care for her family and others with gentleness and selfless love, hoping to bring them closer to our Lord Jesus Christ. As her illness progressed, many of those who knew her were deeply impressed by her desire to glorify God through unfailing faithfulness and ministry. Lee is survived by her devoted husband of 31 years, William Richard Payne, MD, and son William Albritton Payne of Cartersville; her parents Clifford and Agnes Albritton of Cartersville; her brother Clifford Hodges Albritton of Fort Worth, Texas; her mother- and father-in-law, the Reverend Virgil and Barbara Payne of Lillian, Alabama; her brothers- and sisters-in-law Rob Payne and his wife Karen Payne of Hartselle, Alabama and Beth Long and her husband Dennis Long of Hartselle, Alabama; and her nieces and nephews Logan Albritton, Anna Albritton, Nathan Payne, his wife Chelsea, their daughter Avery, Emily Waterman, Will G. Payne, Jack Waterman, and Caroline Long.A service celebrating Lee’s life and homecoming will be held on Saturday, March 21, at 1 p.m. at Cartersville First Baptist Church. Reverend Jeremy Morton will lead the celebration. Visitation will be on Friday, March 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Owens Funeral Home. She will lie in state from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Interment will follow at Sunset Memory Gardens. Pallbearers are John Childers, Ken Gross, Steve Hawkins, Dennis Long, Rob Payne, Will G. Payne, Milton Perry, and Jack Waterman.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to either the building program at Cartersville First Baptist Church (241 Douthit Ferry Rd, Cartersville, GA, 30120) or to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (www.choa.org/tribute or by mail to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, 1577 NE Expressway, Suite A, Atlanta, Georgia 30329).

Owen Funeral Home, 12 Collins Drive, Cartersville, Georgia is in charge of the arrangements.